Colonial Cav - British 10th Hussars

Charge lads!

Another entry for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - some more members of the 10th Hussars - armed with sabres this time.

Sabres drawn, ready to defend the honour of the Empire

The Hussars fought in many of the major engagements in the Sudan, including the battle of El Teb, among others.  The British Cavalry had a rough time of it in the Sudan, often being roughly handled by the combination of unflinching Madhists and broken ground. 

I love the parade spikes and blue pants

The cavalry would also have been involved in countless skirmishes and ambushes along the way between the various battles as they scouted/screened for the infantry columns on the march.  Together with volunteer foot sloggers serving with composite mounted infantry units, the Hussars screened far and wide to keep track of the Madhist troop movements.

The 10th came over from India to participate in the campaign and still had rather fancy elements of their uniforms, including blue pants and parade spikes on their helmets.  It's a very sharp look as far as I'm concerned.  They will look very nice riding to oblivion on the table.

Ready for a glorious, oblivion-inducing charge on the table...

The Sudan painting will continue as the end of the challenge nears...hope to get a couple more submissions in prior to the deadline.

More Painting Challenge - 28mm Camel Corps Troops

The Camel Corps presents arms

The end is in sight for the third annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  I entered this year with ambitions of a high finish, perhaps top five, but as the end approaches and I get crushed under by the true painting machines of the hobby world I will be fortunate if I even finish in the top 15. 

Right now I am clinging to 11th spot, and this submission played a part in that.  These are dismounted camel corps figures from the Perry Twins' outstanding 28mm Sudan range.

Officer, NCO and musician in the front ranks

So far all of my Sudan painting, and the occasional games we have played, have all been set in the very early stages of the British fighting in the Sudan, featuring troops from General Graham's force based out of Suakin. These troops engaged in some intense scraps with the Madhist rebels, and almost came to disaster at Tamai when one of the brigade squares wobbled. 

But real "lead" in the story of the British war in the Sudan is the attempt to relieve General Charles Gordon in Khartoum.  Sent originally to oversee an evacuation of the capital, Gordon ended up leading a desperate defense of the city while the Madhi's hordes surrounded it.  I can't tell if Gordon ended up trapped there, or never really intended to leave due to pride, religious conviction or excessive confidence. As he rallied the defenders public pressure grew on Prime Minister Gladstone to send a relief force and save him.  Gladstone stiff-armed as long as could.

The camel corps had insane special "sword bayonets" issued for the expedition

The PM dithered, but ultimately a relief force was dispatched under General Wolseley.  Wolseley opted for a slow-moving plan to head up the Nile river, but also assembled a "flying column" that would try to cut the distance by crossing the desert direct from Korti.  This would be the Desert Column, and it's core would be the Camel Corps.

Love the bandoleers on these figures

Reading about the Camel Corps is very confusing - at least for me.  When I first heard of this formation I was shocked to think that the British army had maintained a corps of camel-riding troops in their own army.  But of course I was wrong - the Camel Corps was in fact composed of volunteers from all of the top infantry and cavalry units in the British Army.  They would fight bravely at Abu Klea and Abu Kru.  The commander, General Stewart, would die from wounds suffered in action. And it would all be for nought, as Khartoum would fall before help reached the city.

Red stripes on the puggarees of these fellows to represent the guards

The blizzard of detachments that blended into the camel corps still makes for very confusing reading, but near as I can tell there was a Guards Camel Regiment, A Heavy (and also at Light) Camel Regiment(s), and a Mounted Infantry Camel Regiment.  And when you consider the Mounted Infantry were already volunteers riding horses, who presumably instead volunteered to ride camels, it gets even more bloody confusing for me.

Another view of the guards

But regardless of confusion, the look of these figures cannot be beat.  Neck curtains, stained pith helmets, puggarrees, puttees, ammo bandoleers, goggles and cuckoo sword bayonets - all in a race across the crushing heat of the desert, in the face of fanatical rebel hordes, to save one of the of the Victorian era's great heroes. The epitome of imperial infantry!  These troops embody the look and feel of the Sudan campaigns.

Guard from the Heliograph Team

I hope to sometime run an Abu Klea game using the Black Powder rules.  I figure I will need about three units of these camel corps fellows for that, so this submission for Curt's challenge represents a start on that.  It includes 24 figures representing the Light Camel Regiment, and six more as a kind of down payment on the Guards Camel Regiment.

Another view of the guard

For the Guards I painted some red on the puggaree on the helmet - apparently one of the Guards detachments (Life Guards, I think) used this to distinguish themselves. 

These men also had initials for their "home" unit on their arms - I tried to make something of a representation for that on some of the figures, but it is beyond my skill - they just look like they have a shoulder wound.  Whatever - I will leave it for now - I can always paint over it later.  But you can see little red squiggles on some of the figures.

While I was working on these fellows I also came across the guard figure for the heliograph team.  Don't know why I had not painted him before, but here he is.

I have placed an order with the Perrys for more dismounted camel corps troops to round out the Abu Klea forces.  Hopefully we can try an Abu Klea game sometime in the fall!

Tomorrow's War AAR - He Should Have Seen This Coming

Table set up for Tomorrow's War

After visiting Regina just a couple of weeks ago I was very excited to host a return visit by Founding Conscript Curt C, the proprietor/editor of the Analogue Hobbies blog.  Curt is in town for business, but that doesn't mean we can shoe-horn some gaming in! 

Steel Legion Fire Team with officer, medi-bot and Schwarm Bot

Steel Legion Fire Teams

 Curt's group in Regina doesn't play too much sci-fi, so for the first game I set up a small game of Tomorrow's War. The scenario is small one, set in the 40k universe, during the time of the Horus Heresy, on a planet where a pair of Imperial Guard formations have squared off. I have been working to try and come up with a fun "starter" scenario that we can use to play at cons, demonstration games etc. that is a little more engaging than the downed pilot scenario in the Tomorrow's War rule book.

The prize - planetary Astropath, the interstellar iPhone of the 41st millennium

Kasrkin Fire Team and officer

Two more Kasrkin Fire Teams

In this scenario, called "He Should Have Seen This Coming", a convoy which had included an Astropath, a psychic used for interstellar communications in the 40k setting (and therefore very valuable), had been hit by an air strike.  The Astropath was still alive in the wreck of an APC, and one Imperial faction was sending heavy troops to extract him.  They would have eight turns to accomplish this.  The survivors of the armoured column, Steel Legion infantry, would try to block them, and worry about the Astropath later.

Kasrkin must cross the Wadi (top) and get to the wrecked APC at the intersection

Astropath ponders the odds

The table is 4' x 4', with a wrecked APC in the middle, the trusty adobe buildings from Miniature Building Authority and other bits scattered around.  The Steel Legion defenders had three five-man fire teams, each with a rocket launcher and a grenade launcher.  There was also a medical bot and a junior officer attached to one team.  I was short a rocket launcher, so I used the "Schwarmbot" of Gün Schwarm notoriety to fill in with one fire team.  The teams started in ambush, and were d8 quality.

Kasrkin prepare to move out

Steel Legion in ambush

The attacking force were Imperial Guard Kasrkin troops - three four-man fire teams, each with a plasma gun and a melta gun.  There was also a Lieutenant leading the group. The armour of the Kaskrin was rated as 2D, and I also allowed the melta-gun to eliminate 1D of cover from the enemy, so long as it did not move and fire.  The Kasrkin fire teams started a short distance on to the table, needing to cross the wadi and more to the APC.

Steel Legion troopers

Curt played the Kasrkin and I played the Steel Legion.  The Kasrkin side would start with initiative on the first turn, and we would roll for it afterwards.

Screw the ambush - open fire!

Curt maneuvered carefully, but still aggressively, using overwatch and relying on the strong armour of the Kasrkin to cross the wadi and establish themselves in the buildings overlooking the wrecked APC. I found waiting in ambush to be challenging, so I opened fire with two of my fire teams and maneuvered with my third to try and put better cover over the APC.

Couple of wounds on a Steel Legion Fire Team - great markers from Curt

At the top left a Kasrkin Fire Team has moved in to cover the target

Both sides traded fire for several turns.  My high point came with a successful reaction test which allowed me to knock out an entire Kasrkin fire team!  But Curt used the carnage to advance to the APC and collect the "cargo".  It would all come down to reaction rolls and cover fire to see if the Kasrkin could escape. Curt had one fire team on Overwatch across the Wadi and would rely on them to put out enough noise for his second team to fall back.

Effective covering fire by the Kasrkin...

The Steel Legion troops dealt some hurt too

As you can see from the pictures, the cover and reaction fire of the Kasrkin was pretty effective - I lost a whole fire team! We managed to inflict some hits and a serious wound on the team carrying the "cargo", but did not stop them in the end.  Curt had a victory just as the eight turn wrapped up. 

Kasrkin Fire Team makes contact with the target

It was a stiff price for the Kasrkin - four KIA, one seriously wounded (and the medevac did not come, despite two attempts to call for it) out of thirteen troops deployed.  But they dished out a lot of abuse too - five KIA and two seriously wounded out of sixteen Steel Legion troopers.

One casualty on the move back to the Wadi - but not enough to stop the Kasrkin

Tomorrow's War provides for very fun game with a small number of models.  It also allows for 40k gaming without 40k rules, which is really a treat. I like how the game feels more like a puzzle - how to maneuver with covering fire? If you are in ambush, do you wait, or give up and try to maneuver yourself into a better position? The effect of the casualties rules is also really neat - the men try to care for them, and are all affected when someone is seriously wounded etc. These scenarios are fun to build, and I hope to stage a little more developed version of this one for the regular group sometime soon.

Stay tuned for a couple more AARs from Curt's stay in Winnipeg.

Astro Winnipeg 2013 Army Showcase

Last weekend, February 23-24, I played at my second tournament of the 2012-13 season, Astronomi-con Winnipeg 2013. There were players from out of town (props to Mike and Jeff from Minot, N.D., and to Jim from Toronto) plus several new locals.

Christian, Keith and Mike put on yet another great Warhammer 40,000 tournament; this is the 13th time they have run the Winnipeg event. The organizational skills to do this 4 times a year (in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto and Dallas, TX) is mind-boggling. I ran an event several years ago (anyone remember Necron-omicon, a.k.a. "Dave-con"). Though well received, it exhausted me and I haven't run a 40K event since. Kudos to the Astro T.O.'s!

Here are some of the armies that caught my eye during the weekend. My apologies; I did not get photos of as many people's armies as I wanted.

(Remember to click on the images for larger sized pictures.)


MarioR's superb Space Wolves, seen on the hanger deck of their Space Marine strike cruiser:



Mario's Storm Eagle (heavily converted from a Storm Raven, with many added details), sitting on its scratch built launching cradle:



Mario's Space Wolf Terminators and Rune Priest:



Mario's Grey Hunters, and their drop pods:



Mario's Dreadnoughts, and their drop pods:



Rear view of Mario's display board (he intends to build an entire modular game table in this fashion):



RyanK's Chaos Space Marines, led by Abbadon himself:



MikeE's Nurgle Chaos Space Marines:

 

Mike's Chaos Daemon:



One of Mike's two Chaos Blight Drones:



AlexB's Orks; every model is either completely scratch built (e.g., all the helicopters) or heavily converted:



Alex' Boss in Mega Armour:



Alex' air wing:



Alex' ground pounders:



Alex' lit up destroyed vehicle markers:



Sean's Necrons:



Jordan's Orks:



MikeK's Dark Eldar (yes, the white picket fence is a counts-as Aegis Defense Line):



Black Templars:



Imperial Guard:



CharlesJ's Crimson Fists Space Marines with Blood Angels allies:



GregR's Salamanders Space Marines:



JimB's Dark Eldar:



BrockJ's Tyranids (all the models very heavily converted):



Brock's Mycetic Spore is made from a cut up Nerf football!



J.P.'s beautiful Night Lords Chaos Space Marines:



J.P.'s Heldrake flyer:



J.P.'s Chaos Sorceror (note the good use of on-figure light sourcing):



KevinN's Tiger Space Marines:



DamianC's Dark Eldar:



FabioF's Chaos Space Marines with Necron allies :



Space Marines:



Lance's Space Marines:




RodM's Tau Empire:



Rods' Broadside Battlesuits standing behind a Defense Line and anti-aircraft gun (the Broadsides are from Forge World, the defense line is scratch built from balsa wood, the gun converted from spare parts):



Rod's Hammerhead Gunship and Tetra Scout Speeders (the Tetras and the Hammerhead's TL Plasma Cannon turret are from Forge World) :



DanS's disturbing Tyranid Mycetic Spore (also made from a Nerf football):



DaveV's (that's me) Eldar Swordwind (yeah, that's 6 tank hulls and a Wraithlord in 1500 points):




A  view of my Autarch, Fire Storm, and Wraithlord (Note that the Autarch is a slight conversion of a Hasslefree Miniatures space elf; it garnered a lucky Best in Show at last year's annual Manitoba Model Soldier Society Show and Competition. The Fire Storm's gatling laser turret is from Forge World):



 ***

My army list is as follows:


Asurmen's Academy: The Return of Ancient Days

HQ: Autarch (with Death Spinner; Warlord Power = The Dust of a Thousand Suns)

Troops: 5 Dire Avengers (riding inside the Fire Storm AAA tank)

Troops: 8 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent transport, TL Scatter Lasers

Troops: 8 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers

Elite: 5 Fire Dragons
Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannons

Elite: 5 Fire Dragons
Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannon + TL Shuriken Cannons

Fast Attack: 4 Warp Spiders
Warp Spider Exarch, Death Spinner x2

Heavy Support: Fire Storm anti-aircraft artillery tank

Heavy Support: Warp Hunter artillery tank

Heavy Support: Wraithlord , Wraithblade + Bright Lance

Total Roster Cost: 1499 points

This army is themed around high mobility and massed firepower; only the Wraithlord has any close combat capability at all. The Autarch's power allows infantry within 12" to roll an extra dice in difficult terrain, and allows all friendly units within 12" to automatically pass dangerous terrain tests; this was an extremely useful power that became crucial on a few occasions throughout the weekend.

Astro has brought back a Composition score. Under their rules, this army scored the lowest Comp of the entire field (scoring 14 out of a possible 20 points). In part, this reflects upon my choices (that is indeed a lot of tank hulls), but this also is a function of the aged Codex: Eldar. Many of the point values are out of whack with the current codices (i.e., too high to be justified; there's a reason I don't field tooled up Avenger Exarchs any more), and several Eldar powers or items of wargear are useless under the current 6th edition of the WH40K rules. I note that, yet again, I was the only player fielding a Craftworld Eldar force.

Comp was used in part to seed each player's first game of the weekend. In the event, I was matched up with Mario and his Space Wolves. Mario is a gentleman and a scholar, so I certainly had no complaints.

Battle reports for each of my 6 games are posted here.